NEW DELHI: Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland today said it will increase prices of its entire product portfolio by a minimum of 2 per cent from next month to partially offset the impact of rising input costs.

The company would be increasing prices of its entire range of vehicles by a minimum of 2 per cent, the Hinduja group flagship firm said in a statement.

Ashok Leyland (ALL) hit a new high of Rs 145, up 2.5%, extending its previous day’s 1% gain on the BSE in otherwise subdued market. Hinduja Group flagship ALL has outperformed the market by gaining 8% in past one month, as compared to 3.6% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The company’s net profit jumped almost three-fold to Rs 4.49 billion in Q3 from Rs 1.61 billion in the same period a year earlier, overtaking analysts’ estimates of Rs 4 billion.

Shares of Ashok Leyland hit a fresh high of Rs 142, up 3% on the BSE in intra-day trade in otherwise weak market ahead of February sales figures. The commercial vehicles (CV) maker will announce its monthly sales volumes data on Thursday, March 1, 2018.

The stock has outperformed the market by surging 13% thus far in February, after the company reported good sales numbers for the month of January and more-than-doubled net profit in October-December (Q3FY18) quarter.

Hinduja flagship commercial vehicle major Ashok Leyland has been granted a patent for its invention related to a technology for real-time road slope estimation, which could be used in predictive systems for improving fuel economy of vehicles.

The company’s invention comprises an apparatus for estimation of slope of the road taken by vehicles and by anticipating the upcoming road profile, fuel tank sensors could flag off required actions to save fuel.

New Delhi: Truck makers are preparing to boost production, encouraged by the government’s proposal to raise allocation for infrastructure by more than Rs1 trillion for the year starting 1 April, two people aware of the matter said.

India’s top three truck makers—Tata Motors Ltd, Ashok Leyland Ltd and Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles Ltd—have asked their suppliers to ramp up capacity, anticipating an increase in demand for trucks and tippers which are used for road construction, transportation and mining.

New Delhi: A city bus that Ashok Leyland has just unveiled could help attract the focus again to battery swapping, a cheaper method to operate electric vehicles provided there is infrastructure to replace their power cells frequently. The 'Circuit S', which Ashok Leyland is showcasing at the ongoing Auto Expo 2018, is cheaper to buy as well as operate, compared with other electric buses, the Hinduja Group company claimed. Its vehilce has just one lithium ion battery, compared with a pack of cells in other electric city buses.

Ashok Leyland, Shakti Pumps, Zyndus Wellness, Excel Industries, FDC, Jubilant Life Sciences, Polaris Consulting & Services, Hinduja Global Solutions and Inox Leisure have hit their respective 52-week highs on BSE on Thursday.

These stocks have trading higher by up to 19% today, extending their gain after reported a strong set of numbers for the quarter ended December 2017 (Q3FY18).

Commercial vehicle (CV) major Ashok Leyland is planning to invest around Rs 1 billion in the electric vehicle (EV) technology over the next two-three years. The company is also planning to showcase the prototype of its first EV product at the upcoming Auto Expo 2018, scheduled to start this week in New Delhi.

Ashok Leyland’s total planned capital expenditure for the 2018-19 financial year, including the expense of expanding its cabin facility, debottlenecking and investment in technologies, would be Rs 5-7 billion, said Chief Financial Officer Gopal Mahadevan.

Buoyed by an impressive performance on M&HCV sales as well exports, Hinduja group flagship Ashok Leyland (ALL) has reported a 178% growth in its profit after tax (PAT) for the quarter ended December 31, 2017 to Rs 449.71 crore, compared with Rs 161.72 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal.

Analysts expected the company to report a profit of Rs 407 crore.

Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland has recorded a 21.7 per cent rise in its sales in January 2017 to 18,101 units.

The city-based commercial vehicle major had sold 14,872 units during same month of last year, the company said in a statement.

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